I didn’t have time to listen to Hanson’s lecture, but I do have great respect for him and will make time to do so later.
Some initial observations:
There are aspects of Hitler and Putin that are parallel and some that differ, so it’s best to go down the list.
1. Assumed power legally according to the Constitution in effect at the time: Hitler: yes. Putin: Yes.
2. Assumed total dictatorial control within the legal framework of the state: Hitler, yes. Putin; well on his way.
3. Used a manufactured domestic crisis to extinguish civil liberties and political opposition: Hitler, yes. Putin; no.
4. Ran a domestic fascist economy based on nominal private enterprise with real control residing in central bureaucratic organs: Hitler: yes. Putin: yes.
5. Sought to re-unify national ethnic populations outside their borders within their own country: Hitler: yes. Putin: yes (that’s kind of what this discussion is all about).
6. Took advantage of weak international opposition to accomplish goals: Hitler: yes. Putin: yes, times two.
7. Sought to return or establish their nation to it’s “rightful place” in the international order. Hitler: yes. Putin: yes.
8. The combination of all of the above triggered a global military and diplomatic catastrophe: Hitler: yes. Putin: ?
9. Sought the extermination of distinct ethnic minorities through a program that began with persecution and ended with industrial scale mass murder: Hitler: yes. Putin: No.
10. Failed to develop a philosophical/constitutional framework that would perpetuate the concept of their state beyond the time of their own rule. Hitler: yes. Putin: ? but current indications are yes.
I do see distinct parallels on a simple checklist basis, but also see large distinctions. Numbers 7 & 8 are probably subject to much further discussion. Hitler’s war was a miscalculation on everyone’s part. In fact, the two major wars of the 20th century were the product of miscalculations, and they were mutual to both sides. Not sure if that will happen again. Also, while both Hitler and Putin sought/seek to restore a sense of injured national pride, there are different underlying factors at work. I don’t believe Putin ever publicly stated he wanted “Lebensraum” at the expense of other nations; instead, he wants to put the USSR back together under new management.
Further discussion welcomed.
Well worth the time, highly recommended, none better than Hanson, imho.
henkster: "9. Sought the extermination of distinct ethnic minorities through a program that began with persecution and ended with industrial scale mass murder: Hitler: yes. Putin: No."
The apt comparison is not to Hitler in, say, 1943, but rather in, say, 1938, before the Austrian Anschluss.
At that point, Hitler's insanity was not so apparent, and might even stand comparison to, say, Putin's war against Chechen rebels.
Compare Putin now, to say Peter the Great or any other Czar.
Putin should be compared in context with other historical Russian leaders, not German ones.